The Czech president has linked recent attacks in Europe to the continuing influx of migrants escaping war-torn, poverty-stricken countries.

Milos Zeman told Czechs in his annual Christmas speech on Monday that "today almost no-one doubts the connection between the migration wave and terrorist attacks".

In order to prevent terrorist attacks on Czech soil, the president said that the Czech Republic should not take in migrants on a "so-called volunteer basis", alluding to the European Union's efforts to distribute migrants across the continent.

Mr Zeman said he has nothing against helping migrants "on their territory, or on neighbouring territories", or helping Italy and Greece, but "placing Muslim, hardly compatible migrants on our territory would mean creating a breeding ground for potential terrorist attacks".